Adaptive and maladaptive strategies of coping and defending learned in the parent-child relationship undoubtedly impact on the relationships between siblings. The aim of this research is to examine the links between mother-child interactions and sibling interactions in the domains of conflict and caregiving. The transmission of these patterns of behavior in families in which there is maternal depression is of special interest. Siblings (2-3 years old and 5-7 years old) ae observed in interaction with each other, individually with the mother and together with the mother.